I'm no murderer
by TWDGamerKenny'sBro
Summary: Crane's POV of the situation in episode 2. As Bigby investigates the murder at the Puddin' and Pie and The Open Arms Hotel, Crane, a spineless coward, waits back at the office trying to control his fetish obsessions for Snow and remain undetected as long as possible. But it can't last forever.


_They're_ _on_ _to_ _me! __I_ _just_ _know_ _it! __He'll_ _find_ _out_, _he'll_ _trace_ _Lilly_ _back_ _to_ _me! __Everything_ _is_ _so_ _fucked_... _I'm_ _no_ _murderer! _Crane screamed inside his head as he quickly unscrewed the cap of his bottle of pills, taking a couple out and ramming them down his own throat, trying to relieve the stress.

He slumped down in his chair by his desk, rubbing his forehead and racing his hands through what was left of his grey hair.

"Everything alright Mr Ichabod?" Snow asked. Crane lowered his hand and stared at the beautiful Miss Snow. Her pale white skin and soft wavy black hair, her bright blue eyes sparkling like diamonds. A sign of pure passion glinted in Crane's eye as he continued to stare, his heart raced in his chest, fluttering at her presence.

_If_ _only_ _she_ _could_ _be_ _mine_.

He swallowed hard before coughing, clearing his throat and lifting his hand and smartly adjusted his bow tie "Yes... Yes I'm fine" he said with a wave of his hand, shooing her away.

His heart sank as he saw how unhappy she was by the way he treated her. Crane sighed and glanced around his desk "Miss Snow!" He snapped suddenly.

"What?" She replied, her voice rising.

"The wine you purchased, it's disappeared, again! Honestly... Can't get anything right" he grumbled, the rest of his sentence turned into muffles and mutters.

Snow scoffed bitterly, shaking her head. "I should get back to Holly" she murmured, turning away.

"Wait" Crane ordered, his whole body was tingling almost as if it was on fire. The burning passion within him was strong and he wished he could express how he felt to the real Snow White instead of some prostitute troll stand in. But Snow wasn't his. _She'll_ _never_ _be_ _mine_... _We'll_ _never_ _be_ _together_... _She'll_ _never_ _love_ _me_.

"How- how is she?" He asked, yearning to keep her here with him longer.

"It's too early to say. I think she's taking it well, she's going through a hard time and it will get worse before it's gets better but hopefully she'll be just fine."

"Are you arranging a funeral with her?" He questioned, delving deeper into conversation, hearing her luxurious voice.

"She has a name you know" Snow commented on how he referred to Holly.

"Yes, I know but-"

"-We're deciding what to do with the body. We normally throw our dead down the witching well but Holly wants to burn it as it's a troll tradition and I respect her wishes". _As_ _soon_ _as_ _we_ _get_ _rid_ _of_ _the_ _body_ _the_ _better_. _Less_ _chance_ _of_ _Bigby_ _tracing_ _Lilly_ _back_ _to_ _me_. Crane thought to himself.

"How do you think Bigby is doing on the investigation?" Crane wondered, he was more or less asking himself this question than Snow. _I_ _need_ _to_ _cover_ _my_ _tracks_. _I_ _can't_ _be_ _discovered_.. _I'll_ _be_ _thrown_ _down_ _the_ _witching_ _well!_

"He only has one lead at the moment, a strip club called the Puddin' and Pie, run by Georgie. He's probably down there right now investigating he went there straight after we left The Trip Trap and split up. Hopefully he'll find what he's looking for"

"Yes... Hopefully..." Crane trailed off. "I'll let you get back to it I have... Business to attend to"

Snow nodded slowly before walking away. He watched her go, studying the sway of her hips and the way she moved. The scent of her perfume was strong, he treasured the smell with every inhale through his nostrils as she disappeared out of sight. He still imagined her standing in the room with him even after she left, fantasying about her.

There was a burning desire crawling beneath his skin which he could not ignore. He knew it wasn't a healthy nor right and he was certainly doing wrong but he couldn't help it, his fetish obsession was just to great.

_I_ _lost_ _her_... _She_ _could_ _have_ _been_ _mine_... _Bigby_ _stole_ _her_ _from_ _me! _He stood up and wandered over to Snow's desk, catching sight of the bright pink bottle of perfume. Crane swiped it up, taking off the cap and inhaling the sweet smelling fragrance.

_Lilly_ _smelt_ _like_ _this_ _the_ _last_ _time_ _I_ _saw_ _her_... _Of_ _course_ _she_ _did_, _I_ _specifically_ _told_ _her_ _to_ _use_ _it_... _I_ _just_ _wanted_ _everything_ _to_ _be_ _perfect_... _She_ _was_ _just_ _like_ _Snow_... _But_ _no_ _matter_ _what_, _she_ _wasn't_ _the_ _real_ _one_.

_The_ _anger_ _I_ _show_ _towards_ _her_ _is_ _just_ _an_ _act_... _On_ _the_ _inside_ _I_ _can't_ _help_ _but_ _love_ _her_. _I_ _wish_ _I_ _could_ _one_ _day_ _show_ _her_ _how_ _I_ _really_ _feel_, _but_ _I_ _can't_ _now_, _I_ _have_ _to_ _lie_ _low_ _with_ _the_ _Sheriff_ _sniffing_ _around_. _I_ _can't_ _be_ _found_ _out_... _I_ _can't_ _be_ _found_ _out_... _I_ _can't_ _be_ _found_ _out!_

"Need of any service Mr Ichabod?" Bufkin, the green furred winged monkey, asked as he swooped down and landed on the desk.

Crane shuddered at his presence, he obviously looked suspicious from Bufkin's point of view, standing there by Snow's desk, sniffing her perfume. "Bufkin.." He growled lowly, the monkey took a step back by his aggressive tone. Crane placed the perfume down and glared at him angrily.

"Don't sneak up on people like that!"

"Sorry, sir" Bufkin replied childishly. "But is there anything-" he began.

"No!" Crane snapped. _Just_ _leave_ _me_ _alone_...

Bufkin's brow creased, his face frustrated. "Fine" he replied before flapping his wings and flying off towards the large collection of books.

Crane rolled his eyes. _I_ _swear_ _he's_ _been_ _taking_ _my_ _wine_. He thought crossly. He adjusted his glasses on the bridge of his nose and strided over to the magic mirror, giving the golden lamp a quick glance.

"Mirror, mirror, if your able. Tell me everything about this Fable" Crane rhymed.

There was a flash and then a bright green glow came from the mirror, a large face appearing. "Of which Fable do you wish to know?" He asked.

"Would you please show, Miss Snow" he rhymed again for the sake of the mirrors faith in history and rule.

And sure enough, Snow White appeared on the reflection, standing in the Witching Well Chamber along with Holly. Crane's attention was drawn immediately to Snow, his mind blanked out everything else around him and her, ignoring Holly completely and her dead sister, who had once been his Snow stand in, the one he could show his true passion towards. He lifted his hand towards the reflection, reaching out to her, yearning to hold her in his arms.

He stroked the reflection, fantasying that he was touching the real thing. Snow disappeared and the reflection of the Mirror reappeared, Crane quickly lowered his hand and shifted awkwardly where he stood.

Mirror's face was emotionless but he seemed to give off an eerie vibe, his eyes piercing his very soul. _Don't_ _say_ _anything_, _don't_ _say_ _anything_... The pleading in Crane's mind seemed to become a reality as Mirror remained silent before fading.

Crane paused before calling upon Mirror again nervously "Mirror, mirror... If your able... Tell me everything about this Fable" he said hurriedly.

Mirror reappeared once again "Of which Fable do you wish to know?" He asked.

"Show me Bigby Wolf... Or else I'll give you the hoof"

"Your rhyming is terrible" Mirror commented.

"You asked me for a rhyme so I gave it you, now show me Bigby Wolf" Crane demanded.

"Now, now, there's no need to be so harsh" Mirror replied calmly before fading, revealing Bigby. Crane's eyes widened at what he saw. He was there, Bigby was there in room 207, the Open Arms Hotel, the same room he had last seen Lilly alive, playing out his Snow fantasy with her.

Everything was there for Bigby to find, so much evidence which could be traced back to him. Crane adjusted his glasses on the bridge of his nose, pushing them up slightly as he stated hard.

Snow's dress, the apple, the Mundy version of Snow's story, the bed covered in flowers only... It was completely blood soaked. _That_ _wasn't_ _me_... _I_ _swear, __I_ _didn't_ _do_ _that,_ _I_ _didn't_ _kill_ _her!_

Crane took a step back in disbelief. _How_ _did_... _How_ _did_ _he_ _find_ _that_ _place?! How?!_ He screamed inside his head, panic beginning to set in.

Bigby seemed to be crouching by the closet of Snow's perfectly made dress which was no tore and ruined. _I_ _worked_ _so_ _hard_ _to_ _make_ _everything_ _perfect_... And then Bigby noticed something and Crane proceed to watch as he picked up an envelope which was left carelessly on the ground.

Bigby wandered over to the desk and opened the envelope, taking out a photograph. "Are those pictures of the dead girl?" A familiar voice asked. _Beauty...? What's_ _she_ _doing_ _there?! _

"Not all of them" Bigby replied gruffly.

"How do you know?"

"I'm in this one. It was taken last winter" he said, gesturing to the mentioned picture.

"Oh, Bigby. This kind of stalking doesn't just stop by itself, trust me I know about this first hand he'll keep trying to get closer and closer." Beauty told him fearfully.

_Bigby_... _Don't_ _do_ _this, __please! I didn't do it! _But Crane could do nothing but stand and watch as the scene unfolded in front of him.

"His stand in for Snow is gone now, so..." Bigby's words trailed off as he reached for another photograph from inside the envelope.

"The next step closer..." Beauty lifted her clenched hand to her mouth.

Bigby's eyes were full of shock as he stared in horror at the picture he held in his hand, wildly glancing around the room.

"What is it?" Beauty asked, aware of his distress.

"It's Crane" Bigby replied in disbelief, the two stared at the picture of Crane as he leaned over Snow's stand in, his hand moving up her dress while the other caressed her cheek.

Crane clenched his fist, his eyes darkened as he slowly turned and moved towards the lamp he had caught sight of earlier. _I didn't kill her... I'm not the killer... I didn't do this this... I love Snow but- I wouldn't kill anyone! I won't be charged for this murder, it wasn't me! ... I won't be arrested... I won't fall to my doom in The Witching Well... __I_ _won't_ _let_ _Bigby_ _find_ _me! _He picked up the lamp and moved back towards the mirror.

The image of Bigby faded and Mirror reappeared, his face twisted into a silent scream as he realised what Crane was going to do. He rose the lamp above his head and brought it down on the mirror, the glass shattered, pieces scattered by his feet.

He backed away fearfully, panic in his eyes as he breathed heavily. _I'm_ _no_ _murderer._


End file.
